Open position guitar chords for beginners

An audio lesson with tab and chord diagrams

Guitar Techniques/ACM (Jon Bishop), Mon 21 Sep 2009, 3:41 pm UTC

Open position major and minor chords

(Click chord diagrams to enlarge)

Example: verse progression

(Click tab to enlarge)

[Verse: Bars 1-8] The chord progression for the verse is simply a four-bar pattern repeated twice. Make the transitions between the chords as smooth as possible and use a loose and relaxed strumming action. To add interest we've included the third of D (F#) in the bass of the D chord (D/F#). This is a common trick when moving from E minor to G via D as it provides a smooth bass line.

The Dsus4 is another common chord and has been used to anticipate the move to G. We've missed off the low third (B, 2nd fret, fifth string) from the G chords as this doesn't sound so good with distortion. Missing out the third from G leaves us with a rock-friendly G5 power chord – very AC/DC!